Chief of Party, Amman Urban Resilience

Chief of Party (COP) – Amman Urban Resilience

Location: Amman, Jordan

Ready to make a difference? 

ICF is seeking experienced candidates for the role of Chief of Party (COP) with a strong background in urban development and climate change for the anticipated $25-50 million, multi-year USAID Amman Urban Resilience Activity (AURA) in Jordan. The purpose of this activity is to improve local governance and the enabling environment for urban climate resilience and decarbonization in the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM), focusing on interventions with high adaptation benefits. The activity may improve data-driven policymaking, planning, and budgeting and may include interventions focusing on disaster risk reduction resulting from floods and extreme heat events, investment and access to climate funds, enhanced participation of local communities and the private sector, and targeted urban resilience infrastructure work.

The COP will lead ICF’s management of the Amman Urban Resilience Activity overseeing the technical and strategic direction of all aspects of the activity’s implementation and interventions. The position will be full-time and based in Amman, Jordan and may involve frequent in-country travel. The COP will have supervisory managerial, administrative, and technical responsibilities overseeing the successful implementation of the overall Activity. The successful candidate will have demonstrated experience leading complex urban resilience and decarbonization activities in collaboration with local and national authorities and other public and private stakeholders in the GAM itself or in urban areas facing similar development and climate challenges.

Appointment to the position is contingent on award of the Amman Urban Resilience Activity to ICF and on USAID approval of key personnel.

What you will be doing: 

• Provide high-quality leadership to the activity’s interventions in Jordan, overseeing the technical and strategic direction of a multimillion-dollar, multi-year USAID investment.
• Understanding of the full range of the activity’s technical activities.
• Build upon the documented successes and lessons learned of concurrent and preceding efforts to strengthen local governance and the enabling environment for urban climate resilience and decarbonization to ensure that all relevant lessons learned are applied and adapted in implementation.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for USAID and other key stakeholders, providing regular updates on activity progress, challenges, and opportunities, and ensure timely response of the program team to all USAID requests and requirements.
• Work closely with the Greater Amman Municipality and other partners, stakeholders, and donors to ensure that the activity is aligned with national priorities and supports the development of sustainable urban climate resilience systems.
• Make programmatic decisions and troubleshoot implementation challenges.
• Oversee program management processes and methodologies to ensure activity results are delivered on time, within the budget, and adhere to high quality standards; and oversee sub-grant management, as applicable.
• Ensure the activity’s timely and complete submission of high-quality work plans, quarterly and annual reports, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) reports, financial reports, and any other deliverables required by USAID, and respond to program audit or evaluation requests.
• Provide strategic guidance to the activity’s learning, documentation, and dissemination of findings, impact, innovations, and lessons learned.
• Adherence to ICF values and code of conduct.
• Mentor and support the success of AURA team members.

What we need you to have (minimum qualifications):  

• Advanced degree (or equivalent demonstrated through professional experience) in a relevant field, such as international development, sustainable development, urban planning, public policy, engineering, environmental protection, etc.

• 10+ years of progressive experience leading, managing, and implementing international development USAID- or similar donor-funded programs of similar scale and complexity focusing on urban development and sustainability, climate change resilience and/or mitigation, water and sanitation, energy, or similar technical areas.

What we would like you to have: 

• Experience working in Jordan and/or other countries in the Middle East or North Africa with similar development context, challenges, and priorities.
• Senior leadership experience on USAID programs of similar size and complexity, as well as experience with USAID activity management, Agency policies, regulations, and (monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) reporting requirements are added strengths.
• Experience building partnerships and relationships with local government agencies, private sector, academia, and other local community organizations.
• Possession of strategic vision, leadership qualities, depth and breadth of technical expertise and experience, solid management experience, strong interpersonal, written, and oral presentation skills to fulfill the diverse technical and managerial requirements of the activity.
• Prior leadership of field-based urban climate change-related programs would be an added strength.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multi-component program activities with multi-functional teams and international consultants.
• Experience working with national and sub-national level government officials, service providers, and other relevant public and private sector stakeholders and civil society. 
• Demonstrated commitment to locally led, equitable solutions. 
• Advanced interpersonal, management, problem-solving, and analytical skills, as well as exceptional capabilities in verbal and written communications.
• Fluency in English. Fluency in Arabic would be an added strength.

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